Pipe grip



Jan. 13, 1931. PAGE 1388542 PIPE GRIP Filed March 20, 1929 PatentedJan. 13,1931 j i THEODORE M. amen, or LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA i I PIPE GRii? v 7 Application filed n rc h jao, 1929. 's'rial 11o. 345,4 1.11

' This invention relatesto improvements in pipe grips and the like.

An object of the inventionis to provide an improved pipe grip which is of novel, simple and durable construction and which has been primarily designed to beused upon an apparatus for well drilling although it may be'used under analogous circumstances, such as upon pipe rams. I

Another object of the invention is to provide a pipe grip having a body. through which pipe is adapted to be extended and which has a plurality ofmovable jaws or slips pivotally mounted thereon adapted to be actuated in unison and moved into or out of engagement with the pipe to. resist its moving through the body. By having the jaws pivotally mounted upon the body the improved pipe grip'can bevery advantageously employed upon a well drilling apparatus and has the advantage that there is no danger of the slip being dropped into thewell hole requiring a fishing operation.

Another object of the inventionis to provide a pipe grip having movable jaws or slips which is adjustable in that the pipe gripmay accommodate pipes of various sizes and regardless of the size of the pipe the jaws will properly engage it and snugly fit around it.

'With the foregoing and other objects in view which will be made manifest in the following detailed description and specifically pointed out in the appended claims, reference is had to the accompanying drawings for an illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a partial view in elevation; parts being broken away and shown in vertical section illustrating the invention as being used upon a well drilling apparatus and accommodating a pipe of onesize.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating the pipe grip as engaging and supporting pipe of a difierent size. I

Fig. 3 is a top planview of the improved pipe grip, parts being broken away and shown in horizontal section.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken substantially upon the line l- 4c upon Fig. 3.

Referring to thea'ccompanying drawings wherein similar referencecharacters designate similar parts throughout, the improved pipe grip comprises a cylindrical-open topped body 10 which when the device is designed for use on a welldrilling apparatus is of such size that it will fit properly in the rotary table T. In the bottom ofthe body 10 there is formed a central aperture 11 through whichthe pipe is adapted to be extended. At intervals around the inte- 6O rior of the bodythere areformed sets or pairs of inwardly extending ears. 12, each pair of ears providing supports :within the v body for a jaw or slip. Pintles 13 ar ranged in the same'plane extend through 85 the ears and are rotatably mountedthereontand each: pintle serves to pivotal'ly support a aw" or slip liwhich is keyed or pinned as by pins 15. {to its respective pintlep 1 As clearly shown upon Fig/:3 the ends of the. pintles have balls 16 formed thereon and at the bases of the balls there are formed gear teeth 17 forming a crown geanabout the ball where itjoins the body of the pintle. Connectingmembers 1 8 have semi-spherical recesse's'l formed in their ends so as to partial? ly receive the balls and about these recesses they have formed on their ends gear teeth 20 which mesh with the gear teeth 17. In'this manner the connecting members 18rserve to gearedly connect all of the jaws l'to gether so that'on rotation ofione ofthe pintles 13 or a connecting member 18 all of the jaws will be caused to move inwardly or outwardlyin uni.- son. One of the connecting members 18 is 35 provided with an upwardly extending handle 21 which is adapted to be oscillated back and forth to move the jaws or slips 14 inwardly or outwardly; I i I As clearly shown uponthe drawing the engaging surfaces on the jaws or slips 14: are eccentrically arranged with respect to their axes of rotation so that the jaws may 'be caused to engage a pipe of large diameter or a pipe of small diameter on merely causing the slips to swing inwardly toward each other. As clearly shown upon the drawing the side faces of the slips converge upwardly toenablethemto fit together about a pipe of small diameter; Onthe engaging surfaces 109 of the slips there are formed teeth 22. The

radii of curvature of the various teeth vary .bottomof the slips to the top. As clearly shown in Fig. 2, if the improved pipe grip is gripping upona pipe of large diameterfthe lower portions of the slips will be those portions which are inengagement with it. The

' radius of curvature of the; teeth on these portions of the slips is exactly equal to the radius-or half the diameter ofv the pipe. In a similar manner when the smaller sized pipe 1s beingengaged' a's shown in Fig. 1 upper portions of the slips are in. engagement with the pipe and the radius of curvature Ofi'the teeth at these portions isexactly equal to half the diameter of the pipe. In this manneryregardless of the size of pipe which maybe used on moving the slips inwardly. toward each other they will engage the pipe atsome point on their engaging surfaces and whatever point this may be a tooth-or teethv will be located atit which has a radius of curvature such thati-t will fit snugly about the pipe.

From theabove'described construction it will beappreciated that an improvedpipe grip has been provided which is self-adjusting to accommodate various sizes of pipe.

;The improved. pipe grip can be advantageousemployed to. support drill pipe and the like in a well drilling'apparatus and has the advantage that a single operator can cause all of the slips to be simultaneously actuated and moved into engagement with the pipe :to support it or be; disengagedtherefrom. Also,

there is no danger ofthe slips being droppepl into the hole as in the case where slidable slips are employed Whichare separately removed by hand. The improvedpipe grip has all of the advantages of prior grips in that the greater theload on the. pipe the. tighter the slips will be caused to engage it sothat, there iino danger of the pipe slipping between the s ips. A

\Vhile' the drawing illustrates the slips as being operable by the manually actuated handle 21 it is to be understood that any other suitable form ofactuating means may be substituted' therefor if found desirable.

Variouschanges may be made inthe details of construction without departing from; the spirit or scope ofthe invention as defined by the appended claims. 2 i

I claim: V 1. A pipe grip comprisin avbody through whichpipe may be passe a plurality of slips, pintles on which the slips are mounted rotatably upon said body,said lpintles having balls formed on their ends, connectin members fitting between the balls, there 56mg. .3;

geared connection between the connecting members and the pintles, and means for r0 horizontal plane, said slips presenting eccen-' tllj toothed surfaces, and rotatable means connecting the-slips .for causing them to ro-' tatein unison. 3; A pipe grip comprising "a supporting structure, a plurality of slips pivotally mounted upon the supporting structure for rotation about non-parallel axes in thefsame horizontal plane, said slipspresenting eccentric toothed surfaces, rotatable means 100m necting the-slips for causing, them to rotate in unison, and means for rotating said rotatable means. 1 x 4. A. pipegrip comprising a supporting structure, a" plurality of slips pivotally mounted upon the supporting structure for rotation about non parallelaxes in the same horizontal plane, said slips presenting eccentric toothed surfaces, and rotatable means rotatable about axes in said plane connecting the slips for causing them to rotateinunison. 5. A pipe grip comprising ajsup porting structure, a plurality ofslips pivotally mounted upon the supporting structure for rotation about axes in the same horizontal plane, said slips presenting eccentric toothed surfaces, connecting means arranged between the slips,.seats at the ends of the connecting meansenabling the connecting means to rota te with the slips, there being toothed connections between the slips andthe connecting means whereby the slips may be rotated in unison by the connecting means, andmeans for rotating the connecting means.

In testimony whereof I. have signed. my name to this specification. I

THEODORE- M PAGE. 

